Grant to reduce child labour

The International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) has been awarded $4.5m to reduce child labour in 50 cocoa growing communities in Ivory Coast over the next four years.

ICI won the US government’s competitive funding opportunity with its “Eliminating Child Labour in Cocoa” project proposal aiming to protect children and promote child centred community development in 50 cocoa growing communities in Ivory Coast, and so reduce child labour.

The project will directly benefit 5,450 vulnerable children by providing them with access to formal and non-formal educational opportunities. ICI will also help 1,500 vulnerable households by supporting livelihood services such as income generating activities for women.

“We are hugely excited about this opportunity to expand our operations in Ivory Coast, to reinforce our work with the government of Ivory Coast and with Ivorian cocoa farming communities, and to strengthen our direct collaboration with the US Government’s Department of Labour, confirming us as close allies in tackling child labour in cocoa,” says Nick Weatherill, ICI’s executive director.

There are currently 1.2 million children engaged in child labour in cocoa growing in Ivory Coast, according to the Tulane 2013/14 Survey released in July 2015. According to ICI, the scale and persistence of the problem underscores the importance and timeliness of a collective commitment to improve child protection and expand community development in cocoa growing areas.

ICI has been active in Ivory Coast and Ghana for the past eight years, working with cocoa producers and their families, civil society, the cocoa and chocolate industry and the governments, to promote child protection and reduce child labour. In communities assisted to put effective child protection systems in place, ICI has previously seen a 19 per cent increase in the number of children enrolled in school, and a 20 to 40 per cent reduction in child labour.